"It's allowing us to hire 300 additional firefighters to staff fire engines across California," said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire. "That gives us even more firefighters due to the drought conditions that we have."

The firefighters already have been hired.

They were paid for by emergency funding from earlier this year.

But the fiscal year ends at the end of June -- right in the middle of fire season. So, the governor’s revised budget will help them keep the additional staff on the payroll through the rest of the year, Berlant said.

----

Here are some other highlights of Brown's revised budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year; his plan now goes to the Legislature.

SPENDING:

- Projects a $107.8 billion general fund for the fiscal year starting July 1. Includes $2.4 billion in increased revenue over his January estimate.

- Total spending is $156.2 billion, including from bond funds and special funds that are dedicated to specific programs.

___

PAYING DOWN DEBTS:

- Includes $1.6 billion to make the final payment on the economic recovery bonds passed during the administration of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to close a budget deficit.

- Puts $1.6 billion into the state's rainy day fund.

- Includes a 30-year plan to pay down California's nearly $74 billion in unfunded liabilities for the California State Teachers' Retirement System, including a contribution of $450 million in the next fiscal year from the state, school districts and teachers. The state portion would be $73.2 million from the general fund.

- Makes a $100 million payment to local governments as reimbursement for deferred state mandates owed since at least 2004.

___

EDUCATION:

- K-12 education will receive a total of $44.7 billion from the general fund, a 4.3 percent increase over the current fiscal year.

- The amount owed to schools has increased under California's Proposition 98 funding guarantee by $659 million above January projections. That includes $4.5 billion to implement the local control funding formula, Brown's plan that allows local leaders to have more control over how schools spend the money they receive from the state.

___

HIGHER EDUCATION:

- Total general fund spending is $12.5 billion, a 9.9 percent increase over the current year.

___

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES:

- Total general fund spending of $29.6 billion, a 2.7 percent increase over the current year.

- Proposes increased spending of $2.4 billion in Medi-Cal, the state's health insurance program for the poor, as a result of 1.4 million more people than expected enrolling. The administration had projected 10.5 million people would enroll in Medi-Cal in the 2014-15 fiscal year but now projects 11.5 million will gain coverage.

___

WELFARE:

- Increase of $107.9 million in general fund spending this year and $134.4 million in the coming fiscal year, due to growth in caseload, hours per case and costs per hour for the In-Home Supportive Services program.

- Increase of $35 million this year and $95.2 million in 2014-15 in state and federal funding for CalWORKs, the state's welfare-to-work program. The revised budget also includes $13 million in general fund spending for a 5 percent increase in the maximum aid allowed, an increase of $6.8 million from the January proposal.

- Increase of $20.7 million in general fund spending for an additional 134,000 households projected by June 2015 to join the CalFresh food stamp program. This brings the total estimated 2014-15 caseload to 279,000 households.

___

HIGH-SPEED RAIL:

- The governor is proposing to direct $250 million in proceeds from cap-and-trade, greenhouse gas emission fees to the high-speed rail project. The bullet train has faced legal setbacks and is in a bind because it cannot currently sell some $9 billion in voter-approved bonds.

Brown said Tuesday the project is important for economic and environmental reasons: "It's not moving people who wouldn't have moved. It's moving them in a more efficient, more elegant manner in a train than sitting behind the wheel with all the stress that brings and all the impacts on climate and sprawl and parking lots and all the rest."

___

DROUGHT:

- Adds $142 million to address California's drought for expenses such as firefighting, emergency response, water management, wildlife preservation and food assistance, primarily for farm workers who lose their jobs.

___

COURTS:

- Includes total funding of $3.6 billion for the judicial branch, of which $1.3 billion will come from the general fund.

- The Brown administration proposes to reduce court pension costs by asking trial courts to increase employee contributions in the same way the state changed state worker contributions.

- Provides $30.9 million to backfill a potential shortfall in court service fees, such as copying charges.

FORCING THE EVACUATION OF 1200 HOMES. THE FIRE DANGER IS RISING QUICKLY. THE GOVERNOR HAS INCLUDED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MORE FOR FIREFIGHTING EFFORTS IN HIS REVISED BUDGET. WHY CALFIRE SAYS THE EXTRA MONEY IN THE BUDGET IS SO SIGNIFICANT. THESE WEEDS ARE TALLER THAN I AM. MORE THAN SIX FEET TALL. THEY ARE BONE DRY AS WELL. THESE ARE THE CONDITIONS THAT ARE FIGHTERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT. THEY GOT THAT HELP FROM THE GOVERNOR AND THE FORM OF $42 MILLION FOR BATTLING CONDITIONS SIS LIKE THESE. WHILE MOST FIREFIGHTERS ARE BRACING FOR SUMMER LIKE THIS TODAY THE GOVERNMENT OR SAID THERE IS HOPE IN THE FORM OF MONEY. I WANT TO HIRE 300 MORE ADDITIONAL FIREFIGHTERS. THE EXTRA MONEY WOULD ALLOW THE FIREFIGHTERS TO BE KEPT ON STAFF FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR. JACK REMINGTON CLEARS OUT WITH WEIGHTS BY THE CREEK. HE SPENDS EVERY WEEKEND IN HIS YARD KEEPING A CLEAR. YOU HAVE GOT PEOPLE COMING DOWN THE STREET WHO WILL THROW OUT A CIGARETTE. HE HAS SEEN SEVERAL BAD FIRE SEASONS COME AND GO. HE SAYS THIS YEAR'S DROUGHT IS ONE OF THE WORST. 1977 IS THE ONE WE ALL REMEMBER. THAT IS WHAT I CONSIDER THE ONLY BAD ONE UNTIL THIS YEAR. FIREFIGHTERS ARE BATTLING SIZABLE FIRES ARE ON THE STATE AND THE VEGETATION IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA CONTINUES TO WORSEN ALMOST DAILY. EVEN THE GREEN STUFF POSES A BIG RISK RIGHT NOW WITH LOW HUMIDITY AND HIGH WINDS, THE MOISTURE CAN BE PULLED OUT OF THESE PLANTS AND A MATTER OF HOURS MAKING THEM VERY COMBUSTIBLE. YOU CAN SEE UNDERNEATH IT IS PLENTY OF DEAD VEGETATION. IS RENDERED FIREFIGHTERS CALFIRE SPEAKS OF, THE COST OF $20 MILLION. IT WILL GIVE THEM

From the web

Federal agents searched three dozen homes Tuesday in California during a crackdown on so-called maternity tourism operators who arrange for pregnant Chinese women to give birth in the U.S., where their babies automatically become American citizens.